Categories

Posts Tagged ‘question’

Guesstimation interview questions are in the same family as logic questions and require a similar type of response framework. They are used primarily in the high tech and consulting industries. In this post I’ll try and tackle one of the most famous of these questions: How much does Mount Kilimanjaro weigh? Remember, these are not trivia questions, but rather questions used to test your ability to make assumptions, simplify complex problems, and maintain a logical framework to problem solving.

Before you waste your time reading my ramblings, you might consider viewing this video from Vault.com. It approaches this type of question from a sample interview point of view, and gives some very helpful tips.

Thanks Vault!! Now I’ll try to tackle the Mount Kilimanjaro question with an analysis provided below. I’ve written my equations in numerical values instead of writing them out in English for clarity and simplicity while reading.

How much does Mount Kilimanjaro weigh?

“Oh, wow, a lot? Ok, well I think I have seen pictures of the mountain and I remember it is suppose to be pretty tall, maybe like 15,000 feet. So I guess let’s assume it is 15,000 feet tall. And in the pictures I seem to remember it was pretty wide, it looked wider than it was tall, so maybe it is 20,000 feet from end to end along the base. So to figure out how much it weighs I just need to figure out the volume and then figure out how much that volume weighs. So I’ll do the calculation in cubic feet and then just multiply by the weight of one cubic foot of rock.

So to make the calculation manageable lets assume the mountain is a perfect cone, basically a cone with these dimensions I wrote down—a radius of 10,000 feet and height of 15,000 feet. So, let me think. The formula for a cone is…(1/3)pi*(r^2)*h. So let’s see r^2 is 10,000^2 which is 100 million feet. 100 million times the height of 15,000 feet is 1.5 trillion feet. So 1/3 of that is 500 billion. So 500 billion*pi feet cubed is the mountain’s volume. Ok, how much does rock weigh? I remember I helped my dad build a small stone wall by our old house a few years ago, and the rocks were about a foot square and six inches deep. So that is half the size of a cubic food. I think they probably weighed about 70 Ibs. So I can assume the weight of 1 cubic foot of rock is about twice as much, so that would be 140 pounds. So 140 which is the weight of one cubic foot of rock times 500 billion*pi which is the volume of the mountain is 7X10^13 pi Ibs. Wow, that is a lot.”

Analysis
So, there are really there components to answering this type of question involving math and estimation. First, you need to be able to make reasonable assumptions. Making assumptions is part of any job especially engineering—you have to simplify tasks into manageable parts which involves assumptions. So if you say the density of rock is 12 Ibs per cubic meter or that Mount Kilimanjaro is 5 miles high, this might indicate to the recruiter that you will have trouble creating grounded assumptions. Again, the best way to make assumptions is to use reference points. For example, I mentioned the photo of the mountain I remembered seeing and the stone wall I helped my dad build.

Second, you should be able to do the basic math involved in these sorts of problems. Yes, the numbers were big in this example, but they involved lots of zeros so it really wasn’t that hard. In addition, you’ll have scratch paper during the interview.

Third, and most importantly you need to have a chain of logic. Again, it is not the right answer that is important, but how you talk through distilling the problem to its essence and the steps you go through to get to the answer as you describe it in your opening problem statement. In reality Mount Kilimanjaro is 19,340 ft and the density of rock is more like 167 Ibs per square foot, but since this isn’t trivia, but about problem solving, the assumptions we made will do just fine.

Well that’s all for today. If you have any questions or would like free resume consulting, feel free to e-mail me at collegegraduatejobs@gmail.com. Thanks for reading!

I’ve gotten a few e-mails lately regarding putting a low GPA on your resume as well as a ton of referrals from Google searches on the topic so I thought a post addressing it was in order. Ok, let’s not waste any time!

What will happen if I don’t put my GPA on my resume?

In most cases the recruiter will probably assume you have a low GPA. Think about it, if you had a 4.0 is there any doubt you would slap that achievement front and center under your Education section?

How low will they assume your GPA is? Well obviously that depends on the recruiter, but I think typically they will assume your GPA is somewhere between a 2.5 and 2.9 which is where, in my experience, most GPAs lie on the spectrum when they are not listed.

Rest assured all recruiters have seen many resumes without a GPA and have had to ask follow-up questions to obtain this information. Therefore each recruiter will bring their own bias about what an unlisted GPA implies for a particular candidate.

What about just putting my major GPA on my resume?

The question of whether you can exclude your cumulative GPA in favor of your major GPA on your resume is a tricky one. It is true that most employers put a premium on your major GPA over your cumulative GPA, however many may still require that you provide your cumulative.

In addition, major GPAs are more relevant for graduating students than those seeking an internship. With graduating seniors a major GPA represents two years of continued in-depth work with increasing focus and difficulty as one moves from 300-level classes to 400-level classes (from Junior-level to Senior-level). A major GPA for a college junior is usually made up of just a handful of classes which makes it much less relevant.

By listing a major GPA you may entice a recruiter to have follow-up communications to determine your overall GPA at which time you can begin an engagement about why your other relative merits should outweigh your GPA. On the other hand there is the chance they will need your cumulative GPA to process your application and won’t have time to contact you to obtain that information. More on that in a bit.

Of course this is all under the assumption that your career of choice is in the field you majored in. Simply listing a major GPA if you are a career changer won’t do much for you—who cares about your Forest Management GPA if you are trying to go in to Construction Management?

Many of the arguments I provide in this article regarding the discussion of a no GPA vs. a cumulative GPA strategy also apply to a cumulative GPA vs. major GPA placement. I’ll let you decide for yourself whether you want to solely put your major GPA on your resume, however I strongly recommend a dual strategy of placing both GPAs on your resume as in:

* Communication Major GPA: 3.41, Cumulative GPA 2.94

That way you highlight your major GPA while at the same time playing it safe if a recruiter wants to see both. Let’s discuss some more argument for listing your GPA and then follow it up with some counter arguments about why it might be better not to list your GPA.

Arguments for listing your GPA

I think the arguments for listing your GPA differ depending on whether you are applying in person or online. First, I’ll talk about in person applications and then online submittals.

In Person Applications

If you are applying in person there are really two strategies representing two different schools of thought of career consultants. The school of thought I subscribe to is that you should list your GPA, and there are five main reasons I believe in it:

1. Recruiter Assumptions – By using a resume with an unlisted GPA, the recruiter will almost always assume you have “low” grades, defined, as we talked about above, by their experience working with students who don’t list their GPA. So the recruiter may assume you have a higher or lower GPA than is actually the case. Either way this is bad for you—if they assume your grades are higher than they are it will be a let down when they find out your actual GPA; if they assume your grades are lower, you are going through the application process with an unnecessary handicap.

2. Peace of Mind – Since no company is likely to hire you without finding out your cumulative GPA first, why not reveal it up front. If you don’t, you’ll always have the fear in the back of your mind that when the recruiter does find out your GPA, they’ll kick you out the door. I would rather go through the process knowing the recruiter is at least open to the idea that I am more than my grades.

3. Minimize Recruiter Effort – I am a fan of making a recruiter’s job as easy as possible—I want my resume to be completely self-contained with all information easy to access. Making the recruiter inquire about your GPA is one more thing they have to do. This may not be a big deal if they are looking at one resume, but after looking at 100 in a matter of a few hours, it starts to get annoying. You don’t want to be the brunt of a recruiter’s bad day.

4. Recruiter Error – In addition, let’s imagine the recruiter forgets to inquire about your GPA or doesn’t notice it in the initial contact session with you. Now imagine the recruiter has whittled the 100 resumes they spent two hours looking at down to 6 finalists. But here’s the catch—they only have 5 interview spots open. Given two candidates with similar experience do you think the chances are better that they will take the time to e-mail you and wait for your response, or simply choose to interview the candidate that has included all relevant information on their resume?

5. Mitigation Techniques – There are a variety of resume techniques you can use to mitigate a low GPA on your resume. See the links at the top of this article for more information on the technique specifics.

Online Applications

Submitting a resume that includes a GPA is even more critical when using an online application process. Let’s talk about why.

1. Difficult Engagement – During a career fair, company information session, or interview it takes a matter of seconds for a recruiter to inquire about your GPA and solicit a response. When submitting online, the employer no longer has that luxury. At a minimum, they have to take time away from what they are doing and give you a call or send you an e-mail.

In the best case situation you pick up their phone call or see their e-mail right away, but what if you don’t? You could easily find yourself playing a game of phone tag and at worst the recruiter might get frustrated and give up. And what about your e-mail, what if you are out of town or simply don’t check your e-mail for a few days? This back-and-forth communication is all a waste of time at the expense of not only you, but also the recruiter.

2. Busy, busy, busy – During a career fair, company information session, or job interview, the recruiter is able to carve out some one-on-one time and really spend a few minutes addressing your candidacy for the position. In an online review process, that same recruiter may be sifting through hundreds of resumes trying to find an ideal applicant. The only way to stand out in this case is on paper, and that means having a complete and well-flowing resume that doesn’t require the recruiter to do anything but read.

3. Online Applications – Many online applications contain text boxes or drop down menus where you are required to list your GPA. In this case not listing your GPA becomes moot point.

Arguments for NOT listing your GPA

Although I do not subscribe to this school of thought, there are some valid arguments which I’ll try to represent fairly.

In-Person Applications

1. Recruiter Prejudice – Listing a low GPA subjects you to the subconscious prejudice of recruiters who won’t be able to separate you from your low GPA. Although most recruiters are good natured and are there to help, it is true that all people carry biases regardless of how hard they try not to.

2. Recruiter Engagement – Not listing your GPA allows you to engage the recruiter when the subject does come up. Once the recruiter asks you about your GPA, you’ll be able to instantly address the shortfall and provide a verbal mitigation describing how your other qualities outweigh your low GPA. However, I feel that this same strategy can be used when listing your GPA. There is nothing stopping you from obtaining all the benefits of listing your GPA on your resume and at the same time engage the recruiter during first contact.

3. Alternative GPA – As I discussed towards the beginning of this blog post, sometimes simply listing your major GPA is enough to satisfy the curiosity of employers regarding your academic aptitude. This is because most employers put a premium on your major GPA over your cumulative one.

4. Much Ado About Nothing – Maybe all this emphasis I am putting on GPAs is just overblown. Personally, I think your GPA is one of the biggest contributing factors to your hire with a particular firm, but I am just one guy writing a career blog. It is completely reasonable and possible that you’ll get a recruiter that just doesn’t care about GPA. Maybe they can identify with low GPAs and so they don’t ask, maybe they judge you by their rapport with you first and grades second, maybe they think previous work, internship, or volunteer experience speaks volumes more than your grades. Whatever the reason, all recruiters are unique so the importance they place on your GPA is all relative.

Online Applications

Choosing a strategy of an unlisted GPA on an online resume is extremely risky. Since you won’t be able to use the engagement strategy for unlisted GPAs I described above during the submittable process (as you can during a career fair or other recruitment event), you’ll have to hope you make it to the interview rounds where you can begin this discussion. In addition, as I stated above, many online applications have a separate text box or drop down menu for you to list your GPA, so not listing it on your resume becomes moot in that case.

Well that’s it for today, I hope you found this post useful. As always, if you have any questions feel free to leave a comment or e-mail me at collegegraduatejobs@gmail.com.

Behavioral questions are by far the most prevalent type of interview question you will encounter as a new college graduate. A “Behavioral Question” is the generic term given to questions that ask you to talk about yourself—your experience in school and at previous companies, your leadership ability, and your strengths and weaknesses. Behavioral questions include some of the most famous interview questions around. You have probably heard about many of them, or already faced them if you have interviewed for an internship or entry-level position. Some representative examples include:

Can you tell me about your greatest strength?

Can you tell me about a time where you had to lead a team?

Can you tell me about a time where you were faced with an ethical dilemma and how you dealt with it?

Because these questions are so common I will address specific behavioral questions in individual posts, but for now we’ll talk in general about the method used to answer these questions.

Fortunately for us there is a very effective method used to respond to this type of question called the STAR framework. This method takes on the talking points of telling a structured story to discuss a situation you faced, how you handled it, and what the outcome was. STAR stands for Situation, Target, Action, Result. Let’s talk about each of these elements in more depth.

Situation – What is the situation you faced? The situation is very closely tied to the specifics of the Target discussed below. If working in a team or as an individual on a school project the situation would be the very basic elements of the class that assigned the project and information about your group members. If you are discussing an internship it would be information about the company and your position within that company. The situation could even be a weakness or strength you discuss if faced with a question regarding one of these attributes. A strength or weakness discussion would usually be focused in a situational context like that stated for the school assignment or internship project.

Target – What were you tasked to do? If this were your school project the Target would be the required outcome of the group assignment. The same goes if you are discussing an internship and a project assigned in a paid position. If discussing a strength this would be a situation where you utilized a strength effectively. If discussing a weakness this would be the target outcome for improving this weakness and what benefits you believe improving that weakness would have in a professional setting.

Action – This is the meat of your response where you talk about the discreet steps that you and/or your group took to accomplish your Target outcome. Again, if you are discussing a group assignment you would discuss facts such as how the team delegated the tasks. What task you were assigned. How you went about accomplishing this task both as an individual and within the framework of the team. Any difficulties you encountered and how they were resolved. What you learned from the project. These same talking points would be applicable if you were discussing an internship project. If you were discussing a strength you would also use similar points to discuss a situation where your strength was utilized. If you were discussing a weakness you would talk about the steps you went through to address your weakness and improve upon it.

Result – This is a discussion of the outcome, either successful or not, of your Target. It is also where you would address anything you might do differently if assigned a similar project again. If discussing a group assignment you would talk about the end product you and/or your groupmates produced. What did you and your team think of the final product? What did the class think about the result? What did your professor think? If you had some other customer such as a small business or non-profit, what did they think of the product? Would you do anything differently if you had to do the assignment again? If you are discussing an internship project you would talk about what your coworkers and manager thought of the end result. You would want to put extra focus on any cost or time savings or any other measure of efficiency that might have resulted. Talking points about a strength would be very similar to those of the school project with a focus on how your specific strength contributed to the desired outcome. A discussion about a weakness would end with some words about how your steps to improve your weakness have resulted in improved performance and what additional steps you might take to further improve this weakness.